A drug currently in clinical trials for treating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease may someday have value for treating heart failure, according to results of early animal studies by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers.

The drug, a member of a class of compounds known as phosphodiesterase (PDE) type I inhibitors, shows promising effects on dog and rabbit hearts, as well as on isolated rabbit heart cells, most notably an increase in the strength of the heart muscle’s contractions, the researchers say.